Jumbo from Tanzania

Jumbo from Tanzania!  After two horrendously long days of travel, we finally made it to Tanzania around 9:45 am local time (we are 8 hours ahead of Central time).  I definitely am not as excited about flying as I was beforehand… Looking out of the airplane and seeing the ground and clouds was amazing, but the eight hour flights from the US to London than from London to Nairobi.  In the two days of travel, I got maybe 3.5 hours of sleep.  Awful.  I also never really want to see the inside of Heathrow again, we had a ten hour layover.  We were going to go out into London, but Customs wouldn’t let us go out, so we sat around and talked and walked around the Terminal several times. 

Anyways, to the fun stuff! Like I said we landed in Tanzania around 9:45 then drove into a town called Arusha, which was about 45 minutes away from the airport.  In Arusha  we exchanged our money and had lunch.  From Arusha we drove 2 more hours to get to our base camp, Moyo Hills.  In Tanzania, the administrative districts are separated into regions which are like states, districts which are like counties, and wards and villages which are towns.  We are in Arusha region, Karatu district, Rhotia village.  Last night we had orientation where we met all the staff and faculty than were given our housing assignments.  I am in a four person room with girls from Wisconsin, California, and Massachusetts.  The room is fairly small but it has a bathroom with a shower in it so that is handy.  Our cabin is called, “Kifaru”, which is Swahili for “rhino”.

All we have done for the past two days at Moyo Hills is orientation.  We had academic, student affairs, and medical orientation; not to mention we had a tour around our base camp as well as the village roads surrounding Moyo Hills.  Moyo Hills is maybe five minutes from the village, Rhotia, and there are a lot of surrounding homes around Moyo Hills so we met lots of people on the way and had a chance to practice our Swahili.  Our tour guides, two natives to the area and also staff at Moyo Hills, were telling us all a bunch of phrases that I was trying to review in my head but now at the end of the day all I have down is “Jumbo” (Hello) “Shikamoo” (Hello to a person who is older than you), "Kwa heri" (goodbye), “Asante” (Thank you), “Hapana” (No), “Ndiyo” (Yes), and “Habari” (How are you?).  Several times when I greeted people they would try to speak further, asking me questions and I just stood there trying to convey I didn’t understand anything.  Language barriers are frustrating.  Fortunately, the Tanzanians are quite friendly and forgiving of my lack of language knowledge. 

Tanzania is beautiful.  It has a beauty that is completely different from anything I have ever experienced.  We had about three hours of driving through the country side yesterday and I wanted to just take it all in, unfortunately due to jet lag I kept falling asleep… The land would be fairly barren in some parts but transition into dense forests than into agricultural lands very quickly.  There are so many different trees and types of vegetation that is not endemic to the States, we even saw a lemon tree, papaya tree, banana tree, and avocado tree within fifteen feet distance.  There are mountains in the distance. 

What I love the most however, is how people really make up the landscape.  Its completely different from the states, there are people everywhere! As we would drive, we would pass through villages that would have all these little “dukas” (stores) on the side of the road selling pop, clothes, fruit, vegetables, car parts and really anything you can imagine.  The buildings are all pretty much made of cement or brick walls with tin or cardboard roofs.  They are all very small, especially compared to American standards.  When we went into Arusha, a fairly substantial town, it was crazy!  Traffic was nuts, no stoplights or signs or even traffic lines! Cars were swerving in and out with no warning and motorbikes (“piku pikus”) and bicycles were just going anywhere and everywhere.  It was actually fun to watch! And the markets that we passed look so cool, just people with little stands of goods.  I really like how people congregate and are always outside here!

My wildlife count so far is goats, chickens, and cows! Not very exotic, but people herd their animals by walking them around, there are no fences or huge farm operations; just men or boys with a stick following their animals as they graze.  Apparently though, a few weeks ago a man got attacked by a hyena in this region, don’t worry though Ill be safe.  Another part I love is the sounds, or the lack of sounds.  I was on a walk with my roommate today and we noticed how it was so peaceful but it wasn’t quiet.  Instead of obnoxious freeway and car noises, here you can only hear birds and people.  There are so many birds and birdcalls, as for the people you can hear children playing and laughing! I keep saying this, but its beautiful.  Tanzania.  Even though I’ve been super tired and slightly emotional the past few days, I’m already enjoying Tanzania and its people.  I cant wait to learn more about the place, wildlife, and people. 

Kwa heri!